At Lake Malawi quite a bit further south we camp at an Englishman at the campground. The lodge is on the lake, with its beautiful beach. We see many different water birds on the shore – herons, ducks, cormorants and enjoy the view of the lake.

In the morning we find millions of dead mosquitoes next to our kerosene lamp. We had not noticed at night, how many there were.

We start again early, want to go to an unknown reserve, the Thuma Forest Reserve, where there will be bushbucks and elephants.

We stop along the way, because we see a tornado. As fast it occurs, it dissolves. We buy fruit at the roadside, we need supplies. We are, of course, an attraction at the street vendors, especially the children are curious, long-distance travelers from another continent come by here not very often.

After a few kilometers we turn off to a gravel road for Thuma Forest Reserve. Beautiful are the round huts. Over fairly good track and wobbly bridges, we come closer to the park.

We drive through the gate, Tara smuggled, but the road gets worse and worse.

And then, a sudden stop. The creek would not be the problem, but then the slope of loose stones. Spontaneously we think of Ethiopia, where we turned back in similar situation, have broken down both front tires and decide to turn. This risk we do not want to have again.

Instead, we end up in Senga Bay, right on the lake.

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We leave this heavenly place, back towards Nkhata Bay at Lake Malawi.

It is known for its beautiful beaches and is a popular tourist destination, especially for those who enjoy swimming, snorkeling, and other water activities.

The town is also known for its vibrant markets, where visitors can buy fresh produce, handmade crafts, and other local products.

In addition to tourism, fishing is an important industry in Nkhata Bay, and the town is home to a large fishing community. The local people are primarily of the Tonga ethnic group and speak a language called Tumbuka.

Overall, Nkhata Bay is a picturesque town with a rich culture and many opportunities for visitors to explore and experience the beauty of Malawi.

The road passes through hilly countryside. I see a stand with bananas. I need to buy some. The variety of different sweet bananas is great.

At another stall, we still buy mangos. A relaxing stay at the lake, is garantueed. We drive through Nkhata Bay.

Under a mango tree we make ourselves comfortable. Hanging laundry in the open air, especially during night should be avoided, because here you get the mango fly, a vile insect that lays its eggs under the skin and in wet clothes. Later the maggots hatch from human skin.

From the campsite we have a good view over Lake Malawi and its beautiful beaches.

Typical are the small silvery fish in Malawi, which are all laid out to dry.

Since our back door has again given up, a mechanic comes with an interesting welder. It is a DIY version, apparently iron cores wrapped with wire. Two wires come into the socket, two wires are the welding bridge. This is something we have never seen before. Seems to work fine and in no time, our door is again welded.

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We have already crossed the border. The transition was easy, as always. First, immigration, then customs, Carnet stamped, but this time we had to visit the veterinarian. He looked at the papers of Tara, all carefully noted and then issued a document, so our dog can enter.

We see for the first time the deep blue Lake Malawi, as we turn to the campsite. It will now be our constant companion for some time, because we will drive along the lake towards the south. Right now we are tired and glad to have found a campsite.

In the morning we set off and drive along the Lake Malawi. We put a few stops to admire this great lake.

Lake Malawi stretches almost across the entire country, with 575 kilometers in length, it is the third largest lake in Africa and reaches a considerable depth of 700 meters.

Here took place an explosion of biodiversity. Here10 percent of all freshwater fish in the world are living and 1,000 different species of fish are believed to exist, some still undiscovered.

Soon we reached Mzuzu, where we check into a Backpackers Guesthouse. There is no diesel, and so we’re stuck for a few days, never mind, anyway we have to organize a tire.

After a few days, we go further into the Vwaza National Park. Over dusty dirt roads, we finally reach the gate. We have to smuggleTara.

The trick is always the same and usually works. I park the car farther away from the gate, so that in case, Tara is barking, nobody can hear her . Alexandra keeps Tara quiet. When the paperwork is done, they open the gate and I’m going through in one go. Has also worked this time.

The camp is idyllic, and we are alone. Promises to be a good 50th Birthday for me.

In the morning we are on a game drive, we see antelopes and warthogs.

The park there is a small lake on whose shores we want to go along. In the lake, a group of hippos are bathing.

We stand near the shore and watch the wildlife. A group of elephants come to the bank.

The 1,000-square-kilometer large reserve is located 29 kilometers from Rumphi. It is open all year and we enjoy after East Africa, the moderate entrance fee of 5 U.S. dollars, which makes a difference to the up to 200 U.S. dollars per day in Tanzania.
Around the lake Kazuni dominate wetlands and grasslands. It is said that 350 elephants live here. There are also buffalo in the park, but these here should be particularly aggressive. The lake is full of hippos and crocodiles.

Since 2010 there is again a lodge with restaurant and tented camps. The Kazuni camp is the campsite with half-open grass huts and open spaces, where can be camped. Camping costs 5 U.S. dollars per person, there are hot showers and toilets.

We enjoy the solitude of the park and the rich wildlife and can still remain a day, although Tara was discovered, the rangers make an exception.

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On a good tar road, we move on to our last stage in Tanzania. We will be staying for the last time overnight in Bongo Camp, a loving community run camp site, simple, but with charm. Shower facilities are basic but the people there are so helpful and even as electricity did not work, they provided us with hot water for a bucket shower. Best is their homemade food which you can order and they prepare freshly for you. The surrounding is rural and charming, even an ATM is available and there are money changers along the road to get you Malawian Kwacha.

The next morning, we will quickly push to the border, we want to reach Lake Malawi tomorrow, but you never know exactly how long the border crossings last.

We’ll leave Tanzania and thus geographically East – Africa, what we learned to love so much, because it is an Africa that so closely corresponds to the image in our head of Africa. We are sad, but also curious as to what will happen next. Countries with interesting names, Malawi, Zambia and Namibia and finally South Africa, we have heard much and are still nowhere near the end of our journey, so much is yet to come.

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We spend a few days and decide quickly to travel further to Malawi, with a stopover in Ruaha National Park – should be very nice and not so expensive.

No sooner said than done, we sit in the car and move southward. The main route to the south leads through the Mikumi National Park, but without an admission you may not stop or leave the car. We need to stop because a giraffe is crossing the road.

The route goes from Mikumi passing Iringa and Makumbako to Mbeya and goes from there to Malawi. Overall, still about 500 kilometers to the border. The landscape changes quickly in hilly terrain on which traffic is only partially dense only if you catch up the long-distance trucks, which early in the morning left Dar es Salaam. They like to drive in convoy, presumably for security reasons, although we have never heard of robberies.

In Iringa we turn on a dirt road that leads to the Ruaha National Park.

Outside we find a nice campsite. The owner is nice and helps with the tire repair.

The next morning we succeed once again and smuggle Tara into the national park, and soon we see a herd of elephants.

The park is relatively young, founded in 2007 and is located at the Ruaha River, which the park derived its name from. We observe the animals for a while and continue to the river, which currently has no water, because it is the dry season.

Here we can stop and and leave the car. A bridge crosses the river.

In recent years, the Ruaha become increasingly drier, only a few watering holes are left where crocodiles and hippos gather.

However, once the rainy season begins, this results in a rapid stream, which has its peak level in April.

The drier it is, that is during the months of July to October, the more wildlife you see in the remaining remnants of the Ruaha. From mid-November the first rain starts, but you can tour the park until early February without any problems. Thereafter, during the rainy season it’s only four-wheel.

Among the most impressive sites are hippo and crocodile pools and Nyamakuyu rapids, between the bridge and Ruaha River Lodge. The wildlife here is abundant. There are waterbuck and giraffe found in the park. Of course there are zebras.

We go a step further and run into a herd of buffalo in search of a dense thicket shelter from the heat.

Difficult to detect are Lesser and Greater Kudu, sable and roan antelope and wild dogs.

Ruaha National Park is the largest park in Tanzania. It became an insider tip for safaris, yet it has far fewer visitors than the northern parks, which is probably due to the distance to Dar es Salaam. The management has in recent years tried to fix the road network.

Again and again we see animals in the dry riverbed. We take our time in the park time stop, watch, drive on a bit and watch again.

Our day is coming to an end, we want to come again at some point, maybe in the rainy season in order to know the other vegetation. At the bridge we just stop again.
We see hippos dozing on a sand bank. And the sign that warns of the hippos and crocodiles. Over the bridge we leave this great National Park.

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In Dar es Salaam we still organize our visas to travel to Malawi and settle at Sunrise Beach Campsite.

It is a nice place to stay and anyway it will take some days to get all our paperwork for Malawi, like visas and temporary import permit for the car.

The campsite as most of the campsites in Africa is situated directly at the beach. Most of the time there is a backpackers guesthouse with the campsite. Here the tourists share the beach with the fishermen whose boat rest at the sandy beach.

The water of the Indian Ocean is warm, around 28 degrees and invites to bath in the waves. But if it is windy it is not a good idea to swim as the currents are stronger than usual and you might drift out to the ocean.

Sometime overlander tours cross our way with huge trucks and some tourists. These are organized camping trips and last for a week or two and travel through the country with tourists. They stay for one night at the campsite, they cook for themselves and stay in tents or in the truck.

From South Beach it is easy to get to Dar by public transport. From outside the campsite we take a Matatu to the ferry. There we cross the river to Dar and on the other side of the bay we take a tuk tuk to do all the organization of paperwork, shopping and refilling gas for our gas stove.

Dar es Salaam is a rather safe city. Tanzania is Muslimic and rather old fashioned. People are strong believers and so the country overall s very safe.

Queueing up at the ferry is quite disciplined. But when the ferry approaches everybody starts to move, and cars are loaded, goods, people and animals are brought onto the ferry.

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On a wonderful road we go to the largest city in Tanzania. Dar es Salaam is not the capital, as is often assumed, the capital of Tanzania is Dodoma, located in the south.

Soon we reach bustling Dar es Salaam. Dar, as it is called short, is a very modern city with three million inhabitants. It is one of the fastest growing cities in Africa. Although it is not the capital, it is the political and economic center of the country, everything is controlled from here, all diplomatic missions have their headquarters here. We do not stay in Dar but go directly to the ferry, which connects the city with the southern beaches.

We will spend a night on the coast, because we want next day into Selous National Park.

First, it is quite good, we are able to race around the 78 km/h, but sometimes worse and deep sandy, and always leads through small villages. I almost run into a little child running around the track,good luck nothing happened. The last few meters before the Hippo Camp we hear elephants, but we do not see them.

We spend a wonderful evening at the river with a perfect sunset and typical jungle noises during the night. The next morning we discover from the campsite, a group hippos bathing in the river.

We learn that the entrance fee proposed into Selous National Park is 180 U.S. dollars per day, which is too much and we return to the coast.

On our route back to Dar we stop along the road to organize a new stove for cooking. It is made from metal and clay and works similar to a barbecue grill with charcoal.

In Dar es Salaam we still organize our visas to travel to Malawi and settle at Sunrise Beach Campsite.

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Passing sisal plantations, we go to the next beach paradise. Pangani Resort. close to Tanga Tanzania. Not too bad here. There are definitely worse places.

We are watching the fishermen with their traditional boats. From a tree trunk, the inside is hollowed out, and thinner trunks are tied on the boat as the boom, which in rough seas, prevents capsizing.

Again, we spend a few days. We had met Karl Friedrich a German, who invited us to Tanga, to show us the city. We gladly accept and make our way to Tanga. Although the city does not look like, it is with 180,000 inhabitants is the third largest city in Tanzania. It is a former German colonial town, what you see today in various buildings.

We stay on the only camp of the city, actually a small hotel with a lawn and a single palm tree that gives us a little shade. We get a room key to be able to use bathroom and toilet. Even the electricity we draw from the room. Curious we examine the rooms. They are simply furnished, two beds and nothing else, but they are clean.

I am fascinated by the flush box of the toilet, apparently a haven for frogs, because there are some of the pretty fellows playing in the rinse water.

Overnight our tire loses air, so it must be repaired. Karl Friedrich organized a mechanic who takes off the wheel, we will take it later in the city to repair it.

We got an unexpected visitor, Karl Friedrich brings the Austrian Theo and his wife Veronica. Theo had worked here in Tanzania and left Austria, and has lived for some years with his wife in Tanga. Veronica brings homemade chapati, which pleases us very much. We sit comfortably under the palm, it’s nice to meet again a compatriot. We chat and exchange experiences, a nice morning.

For lunch we set off with Karl Friedrich in the city, and arrange to meet with Theo and Veronika for the evening. He shows us typical houses from the colonial period, which are typical for their porch on the first floor. Up there it’s pretty cool because the wind from the sea cools there.

The Bay of Tanga is appealing, here’s a larger harbor with ferry to Pemba and Zanzibar.

Karl Friedrich shows us the old German cemetery. It is frightening how many German soldiers died at a young age from malaria.

We want to see the old colonial train station. From here the track goes to Ruvu, a small town in the hinterland. On Fridays there is a passenger train, otherwise only cargo trains operate, mainly due to the port of Tanga.

As agreed, we visit Theo and Veronica. They live with their dogs in a small house, they are not rich, but very hospitable. Veronica is just the cook. As is common in Africa, cooked is on the ground and in the open. She prepares chapati, Alexandra helps her, the mortar is new to her.

Chapati we know, but now she cuts a little something into strips and deep fried it, we do not know what it is, but tastes delicious.

We still spend a nice evening with the two, Veronica gives us even a packed lunch for tomorrow’s trip to Dar es Salaam.

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To explore Tanzanian beaches it is time to drive to the coast. We have heard from a great place, on the Indian Ocean. Beach Crab Resort – there we want to go.

The drive through the Usambara Mountains is beautiful, it is pleasantly cool, so we drive the switchbacks relaxed, through small villages – really enjoy it. The public bus makes a stop here – traders try to sell their goods to the passengers.

From the main road a good gravel road branches to the ocean. We need to go to Pangani town, go there on a ferry. We are the first on the ferry and have to wait a bit.

Interesting is the buzz at the ferry, the pedestrian must leave first the ship, then the vehicles. Everything is done quietly and calmly. No one here knows hectic. Now it’s our turn. Only a few vehicles fit on it. No problem, because the ferry shuttles back and forth, driving time about 10 minutes. And now we are almost there. The flow is pretty remarkable. Here Pangani river flows into the sea. Slowly, the captain aproaches the concrete ramp.

And once again we are in a paradise. The palm trees provide shade, the sandy Pangani beach is doing well on the feet and the sea less than 10 meters away. We decide to spend a few days.

We can not spend the rest of our lives at Tanzanian beaches so it goes on after a few days.

At a stall we buy chapati, which are like omlettes but taste like bread and can be rolled. Delicious breakfast. As always, Tara is waiting impatiently. She loves chapati.

Chapati is not originally an African dish, but it has become a popular food in many parts of Africa due to historical and cultural influences. African chapati is usually made using a similar recipe as the Indian version but may have some variations depending on the region.

In East Africa, for example, chapati is a popular street food and is often made with a mixture of wheat and maize flour. The dough is rolled out thinly, and the chapati is cooked on a flat griddle with a little oil or butter until it is golden brown on both sides.

In West Africa, chapati is sometimes made with cassava flour instead of wheat flour, giving it a slightly different flavor and texture. Some versions of African chapati may also include spices such as cumin or coriander, which give it a distinctive taste.

Overall, African chapati is a delicious and versatile food that is enjoyed by many people in different parts of the continent.

Back on the ferry.

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Usambara Mountains are our next major destination. But before we continue from Ngorongoro Crater to Arusha. In the city itself, we take advantage of the great variety of goods to replenish our stocks.

Arusha is a bustling center with many travel agents and agencies, because Arusha is the starting point for ascents of Kilimanjaro. Many people think that Kilimanjaro is in Kenya, but in fact it is completely in Tanzania but can be seen nicely as well from Kenya.

We have been lucky and see Mount Kilimanjaro. Cloud-free, which is rarely the case. We will stay at its base, on a small mountain road up just before the entrance to the park there is a nice campground. We use the time until the evening to control the oil, air filter to clean and perform minor maintenance.

From Kilimanjaro we head south. We want to stay in the Usambara mountains, but before we camp at the Pangani river.

The camp is again simple but idyllic situated, next to the river, we enjoy the quiet atmosphere, see unusual birds and see Bush babies in the trees.

Over a small mountain road, it goes up to 2,000 meters. With pleasant cool mountain forests, they provide a contrast to the hot, dusty Maasai savannah. We go up to Irente View Point Hotel, where you can also camp.

Usambara Mountains a little bit look like Austria, but no worries, we do not feel homesick. Especially not in the evening when it got pretty cold.

We set up comfortably and meet a guide who we agree on a hike the next day.

With him, we come across a brick factory, where hand-made ​​clay tiles are made. A rather interesting thing.

Our guide shows us a plant whose fruit is used for abortions.

From a rocky outcrop at dizzying heights, we see the Irente View Point Hotel, which was itself built on a rocky outcrop.

In the depth you can see large sisal plantations that were created in the German colonial period. Although sisal is still planted yet, it has lost its imortance because of the nylon fiber.

Our guide finds a Chameleon. Africans fear the Chameleon, because there are so many strange stories around it.

We enjoyed quite a while, the beautiful sunset.

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